Dark Comes Before Dawn
by A Shadow With Black Feathers
Summary: Leaf has been alone on the streets with her mother for as long as she can remember. This is the normal for her. Frost is a pampered kittypet living an easy life. Pine was a loner, brought up believing in the legend of the ancient Warrior Clans, that have long been extinct. But when these three cats come together, will they be able to keep the peace? (Full summary on profile)
1. Prologue and Chapter 1

Prologue 

_Each and every one of us was descended from someone. We may be ordinary, normal, and regular, but each one of us has a destiny made for us to fulfill, whether we are ready for it or not, whether we want to or not. But as i found out the hard way, it doesn't matter what we want, our destiny will find us, we will not find it, we will not choose us. We were all born for a reason, it just needs to make itself clear. We might not accept the fact that it has to happen, but we will always be ready for it, even we don't think so.  
_

Chapter One

-Leaf-

_Stick by your own decisions. Trust in yourself, Believe you are right. Otherwise the words of your enemies will poison you, and you will not listen to your own mind..._

It was what her mother had always told her. And She had believed it more strongly than anything else in this world. Lately Leaf had shaken away all thoughts of her beloved mother, banishing them from her mind, but she couldn't control it all the time. her mind flashed back to that one terrible day...

_"Leaf," Pepper said, whispered. "You must go. Go now, I'll stay here, I'll be fine." _

_"No...we both know that you're sick, I need to stay with you." Leaf had protested, crouching by her mother. _

_"We need food." Pepper argued back, "And you can get it, even if you can't find any around here, you know where." Leaf sighed, and knew that she should listen to her mother, but she didn't want to.  
_

_"I'll be back very soon." She promised over her shoulder as she left the shelter she called home. Pepper nodded, her eyes calm. Leaf looked back at her for moment, then..._

Leaf banished the memory now, shaking her head as she looked up at the creaking rafters of the roof. _Why did you have to leave me? _

She tapped her claws on the ground, searching for something to distract her sharp mind. Her eyes were drawn to a pile of leaves, swirling around in a circle, the kind she used to pounce on when she was a kit to see if it would spin her with the leaves. It never did, even when she was just a little bigger than a squirrel.

Leaf suddenly stood up, but she wasn't sure yet of where she was going. She just wanted to move around before the memories could take her. She padded to the end of the alley, away from the little shed she slept under. she tilted her head back to look up as she bunched her muscles to jump onto a dumpster and over the brick wall.

She landed neatly on the top, then hopped over and landed with a poof of dust. she quickly pricked he ears, tensed to go with her instincts like her mother had taught her if she faced danger. Leaf caught a musky scent; the scent of rain on dirt. when the slight cloud of dust cleared, she looked around and saw nothing out of the ordinary.

_You can never be too careful. _Leaf reminded herself, the life of a loner was a hard one, you never knew who your friends were, or your enemies. But in some ways she liked it that way. Your best friend could turn out as your worst enemy. _Always remember the real enemy, _Her mother told her, _The real enemy is trust. Never show trust, for it will be your downfall. _

Leaf straightened up and took a few silent steps away from the wall. She knew this place well, there was the wall on one side, making a narrow pathway with the chain link fence on the other side until it came out onto the street.

She walked down the alley, never making a sound, she was quiet as falling snow. She flattened to the ground when a loud bark from a dog sounded, but it was quickly silenced, and led away by one of those twolegs. Leaf narrowed her eyes as slunk forward again, unafraid but wary of the twolegs. She turned the corner, hunched low to the ground in case she had to dart away fast from danger.

A loud noise nearly made her jump out of her fur. She looked up to see a twoleg device, a monster. Leaf hissed as the monster drove past her, seeming busy to her. She quickly slipped in between two stone walls, twitching her whiskers to pick up any alerts that another cat could be nearby. She didn't always come here, because she knew others lurked about in the shadows behind this building, waiting for the twolegs to throw food scraps out. Leaf would only come here if she was very tired, or if she needed food fast and didn't have time to go looking. Today was the first time ever that she'd come here, just because she was a little hungry. she normally wouldn't take risks like that. It was dangerous here.

Leaf sniffed, noticing faint scents of other cats passing through here. Even though she knew this was to be expected, her fur still prickled with unease. _I should get out of here. _the thought crossed her mind, but didn't fully register, and she padded forward again, her ears straining for any notice of others.

A sharp crash sounded, echoing everywhere. Leaf froze, smelling the strong scent of meat. another thud came, and she ventured forward, and her eyes brightened at the sight of leftover scraps. she darted forward and grabbed it, then streaked away the way she had came, heading to her shelter.

As she ran, her paw landed on a sharp stone, causing her to stop. Leaf huffed in annoyance, picking up the meat again and padding back to the alley. She ignored the pain, waiting until she knew she was safe to let her guard down. she leaped over the wall, wincing as she landed. She hurried into the shed and set the food down. She started licking her paw, trying to get the stone out. she pulled at it, giving a slight whimper as it came free, along with a little blood.

Leaf turned to her food, wolfing it down before it attracted others. As she ate the last mouthful, she heard a creaking sound above her, coming from the twolegs. She glanced up, and a few sprinkles of sawdust fell down onto her, but she paid it no mind as she settled in to watch the entrance.

-Frost-

_The outside world is harsh. Its no place for you, keep it that way. _Frost had never doubted these words, not once in all the times she heard it, coming from her father's mouth. She lay peacefully out in the garden, her soft fur mixed with the bright green grass. she flicked her tail lazily, basking in the sun. her eyes were half closed, her legs stretched out. This was her favorite time of day, mid afternoon, the warmest part of the day after the sun had warmed the sky all day.

"Frost," She looked over to see her father, Bane. "Its time to come in, the housefolk are coming." he said bluntly, which was his usual manner of saying things. Frost stood up and followed him to the door, where she waited for it to be opened as the twolegs walked across the yard towards them.

Frost twitched an ear and purred as the female twoleg scratched her head. She followed the housefolk inside and ruffled her fur as the cool breeze of the air conditioning brushed over her fur. Her father headed past her into the kitchen, where she heard the housefolk pouring two bowls full of the little brown pellets. She headed away from the kitchen, going to the bed-room with the big white fluffy thing that she loved to lay on. she hopped up and curled into a ball like she would always do. She wasn't tired, but she wanted to get comfortable and just lay and watch for a while.

As she sat there she thought of what might be over the fence that she had never been out of. She was born and raised here, in this very house, though she'd never known her mother. Her father never said anything about her either.

She huffed, knowing she would never be able to see, and would probably live here forever, bored and easy going. She didn't really mind, except it was so hard for her to control her natural curiosity about things she hadn't seen. It would drive her crazy. She couldn't explain why she wanted to know thing so badly, but she did know that her father didn't approve of her asking questions, no matter what they were about.

She shook her thoughts off, trying to relax while she could, before they would have to get up or do something, and her father would make her go with him. he was so controlling sometimes, she wondered if her mother had simply left him. She didn't know if she was even alive. It didn't make her sad though, she couldn't miss what she had never had.

A few times she jumped up, hearing the housefolk and thinking they might be calling her, but none of the times they were. She shook her head, thinking of how bored a cat could get before they just snapped from it. she yawned, not noticing when she fell asleep, a nap seemed nice right now...

-Pine-

_Don't be afraid to take a step away from what you know. You may find a different place is better for you than anywhere you have been so far, don't hesitate when you know something is right, and don't be afraid to speak out.  
_

Pine woke up from his nap with these words in his mind and his ears. It was what his mother had told him on the last day he saw her. she stood up and stretched, shaking his fur out. He looked at the small form of his daughter next to him, and was struck with a familiar pang of grief for his mate, who was identical to the she-cat beside him.

"Glacier." He said gently, nosing her neck.

Glacier's jaws opened in a wide yawned as she blinked to clear her eyes from the fuzziness of sleep. "What?" she asked, blinking clear blue eyes.

"I think they want us to go outside." Pine responded, jumping off the bed and hearing Glacier following him. He padded around into the place where the housefolk were, waiting for them to notice him and Glacier.

"I don't wanna." Glacier said. "the grass is probably wet."

"We can sit on the dirt."

"I guess..." She said. "But I'd rather just stay inside."

"Well, we can't." Pine said as he trotted out the door, hearing Glacier's pawsteps behind him. he shook out his fur as he stepped onto the grass, which was wet as his daughter had said. He sighed slightly, and started padding around the yard, checking it. It was a habit of his, from when he was a loner. this was his territory, of course he had to check it every day.

Glacier had found a spot next to the house, leaning against a wall. She was trying to get back to sleep now that she had made herself somewhat comfortable again.

After he was done, he went back by the door and sat on the hard concrete, not fully understanding why the housefolk wanted them to go outside, they must be doing a twoleg thing, like when they went around checking every piece of furniture and brushing it off. _Twolegs are crazy... _he thought, shaking his head a little to himself. _oh well, might as well enjoy the day, it's nice out..._

**AN: So this was a pretty long chapter! I need to warn you that the rest of them may not be this long, and if they are it'll take me a little longer to update. I hope you enjoy! R&R!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

-Frost-

Frost jumped awake when a paw prodded her side. "What?" She asked, flicking her ears as she looked up at Bane.

"I've been looking all over for you!" he growled.

"Well I've been here..." She said with a shrug. _What does he want? _

"Its time to eat." he huffed, leaping off the bed and stalking from the room. Frost couldn't suppress a roll of her eyes, annoyed, but she hopped up anyway and quickly followed so she wouldn't be scolded.

She inhaled, hoping that they would get something special for their dinner tonight, but it was just the same old brown pellets. She ate a few mouthfuls of it anyway, though she wasn't very hungry. She decided that she would leave the rest of it for later, like she usually did. She didn't eat much to begin with so she liked to save her food.

Frost glanced outside, it was getting dark, the sun was disappearing over the tops of the twolegnests surrounding her. She sat by the see through door, watching the birds fly by and the twolegs return to their nests. For some reason they didn't like the dark, but she had on idea why. To her it was a great time to be outside. Maybe they were scared of it.

She got up and trotted back into the warmer part of the nest. She liked the feeling of the warm air on her fur; she wasn't a cat suited for cold weather. she stretched, then padded over to the soft tree, which was what she could scratch her claws on. She didn't know what it really was, but that was what she called it. It was the only part of the home that the twolegs didn't mind her scratching up, so she used it.

the material ripped easily under her claws, but none of it ever fell off. After she exercised her claws, she hopped up into one of the branches to curl up. She liked being in a high spot, it made her feel safer and more ready, though its not like anything would ever happen that she needed to be ready for. She usually slept up at the highest one, but sometimes she would just sleep on the chair, or even the carpet.

As she settled down, she kept her eyes open, watching the twolegs go back and forth as the sky continued to darken. She heard bane moving around, trying to find a place for himself to sleep. She stayed where she was. no one noticed her up there, which is what she wanted.

She stayed awake up there for a while, until she finally fell asleep, but not deeply, she could still hear everything going on in her home.

-Leaf-

As Leaf began to settle down to sleep for the night, she moved some stringy material over so she could make a small nest out of it like she usually did. As she lay down in her new made nest, she noticed a big poof of dust coming from outside. She didn't know what it could be, so she didn't venture out to check. the unknown was dangerous. She wasn't afraid either, but she was always cautious. as she looked around the corner of the shed, she saw the outline of another cat.

The cat was walking around, rubbing his scent on the walls. Leaf drew in a hiss of fury. This was _her _territory! How dare another alley cat come here? She jumped out of her nest and growled deep in her throat. It was always better to be hostile rather than seem weak, with these alley cats. you could never tell what kind of cat they were until it was too late, and Leaf would never let herself be taken advantage of.

She growled slowly and menacingly, her fur bristling to make her look twice as big as she really was. She heard the cat pause, then take another step forward.

"Get. Away." She snarled.

The cat jumped in surprise at the sound of her voice. She leaped out of the shed and sprang at the cat, bowling him to the ground in a whirlwind of claws. She pinned him down and looked at him. He was an ash-gray tom with speckled fur, and now had three scratch marks over his cheek from where she had caught him.

"What do you want?" She showed her fangs.

"Nothing!" He said, not hostile but not submissive either. "I was just passing through, no need to get all whipped up."

She growled again and didn't let him up. He let out a sigh of annoyance and rolled his eyes. "Can i get up and leave?"

"How do i know you're telling the truth?" Leaf asked.

"Well what do you want me to do?"

She considered for a moment, not sure. "Just get out of here. And don't come back,"

"What i planned on doing anyway..." He jumped to his paws as she let him up. "A Pleasure meeting you," he said it with heavy sarcasm as he leaped away, back into the growing darkness of night. Leaf stayed outside, watching the alley for any other trespassers, or anything else unusual or dangerous.

-Pine-

Pine sat up on a tree branch, waiting for the twolegs to come home so they could go in. He had already caught a bird for his and Glacier's lunch, so he wasn't hungry. He yawned, sinking his claws into the rain-soft bark to keep himself up. He saw the outline of the monster coming closer, and its glare of lights lit up the driveway. He leaped agilely down, landing neatly on his paws.

"Glacier?" he glanced around for his daughter and she popped up from behind the long weeds of the yard. She padded over, sitting next to him and waiting for the housefolk to let them inside. when one of them opened the door, they both hurried in, shaking their fur out and feeling the warm air slide over them.

"I'm tired," Glacier said, showing sharp white teeth as she yawned. "I'm going to sleep."

"All right," Pine said and nodded as she walked out of the room to her sleeping place. He stayed sitting in the main room, watching outside the door. he squinted to see through it, he never understood how the twolegs could see through such a messy window.

He jumped up onto the soft mountain, he thought it was called a sofa. he curled in up in a russet-furred ball and wrapped his tail over his nose. He didn't mean to fall asleep just yet, but it happened anyway, the peacefulness of sleep dragging him under very soon. He didn't try to fight it.


End file.
